LUA Buglight public [pre]-release

LUA Buglight™ is a tool I've been working on that is designed to help both developers and IT Pros (sysadmins) identify the specific causes of "LUA bugs" in desktop applications running on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Vista. Once the specific causes have been identified, the bugs can more easily be resolved by fixing the app’s source code, or by making configuration changes, allowing the app to work correctly for non-admin users.

I have written a number of pieces about LUA bugs and how to fix them (see list below). The problem has been that before you can fix them, you need to identify them. The available tools for doing so have been lacking. LUA Buglight exists to try to solve that problem.

LUA Buglight remains a work in progress, but you can download the current version here. The download is a .zip file containing a self-extracting executable that simply extracts its contents to a folder of your choosing. Those contents include a 34-page Word document -- please read it. It should answer many of your questions.

One important note: not every item that appears in the output indicates a bug that needs to be remediated! Before making any system changes, please refer to the following guidance:

What is a "LUA Bug"? (And what isn't a LUA Bug?)
Not every "access denied" indicates a LUA bug!
https://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2006/02/06/525455.aspx

Fixing "LUA bugs", Part I
A systematic approach for working around LUA bugs that avoids unnecessary exposure
https://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2006/02/16/533077.aspx

Fixing "LUA bugs", Part II
A systematic approach for working around LUA bugs that avoids unnecessary exposure - the "rest of the story"
https://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2006/03/27/562091.aspx

Changing Access Control on Folders vs. Files
More info on the risks of changing access control lists to fix LUA bugs.
https://blogs.msdn.com/aaron_margosis/archive/2006/06/19/638148.aspx

I’ll write more about LUA Buglight in the near future.

[Updates: Oct 2006 MSDN webcast ; and Feb 15 2007 LUA Buglight updated information ]

Update, November 6, 2008: LUA Buglight 2.0 Second Preview is now available here . Removing 1.0 from the download.